The Truth About "If You Like Your Plan, You Can Keep Your Plan"

Bit by bit, we’re learning more about President Obama’s broken promise that you can keep your health insurance if you like it, which was repeated at least two dozen times in recent years.

As reported last week by NBC’s Lisa Myers and Hannah Rappleye, the administration knew to expect the current wave of policy cancellations for “at least three years.” NBC cited estimates of about 7 to 11 million cancellations:

Four sources deeply involved in the Affordable Care Act tell NBC News that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a “cancellation” letter or the equivalent over the next year because their existing policies don’t meet the standards mandated by the new health care law.

One expert predicts that number could reach as high as 80 percent. And all say that many of those forced to buy pricier new policies will experience “sticker shock.”

None of this should come as a shock to the Obama administration.

Last weekend, TheWall Street Journal added the news that Obama’s pledge was actively debated by his advisory team. Some advisers objected to the pledge, knowing it wasn’t accurate, only to be overruled by “political aides.”

All of this raises the question: What should we call such a deliberate deception?

Did Obama merely misspeak, as claimed by The New York Times editorial board?

Or, is he guilty of an out-and-out lie?

The WSJ’s James Taranto stopped short of the “L” word in his “Best of the Web” column yesterday, but otherwise hit the nail on the head:

To misspeak means to express oneself imperfectly or incorrectly. It implies either a careless choice of words or an unintended candor (as in a “Freudian slip”). Obama did not misspeak. As The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend, the slogan was the result of careful deliberation.

…

Suppose the deliberations the Journal describes had taken place in a corporate suite rather than a government one and had concerned a commercial rather than a political advertising slogan. In that case, we’d be talking about a criminal conspiracy to defraud consumers.

In other words, Obama’s pledge was no different to, say, JPMorgan’s misrepresentations about the toxic mortgages it sold to unwitting investors. Fraudulent mortgage claims were surely discussed within JPM, just as Obama’s team debated the health insurance promise. Moreover, any internal concerns about the mortgage fraud were certainly squashed, just like the reservations expressed by Obama’s more truthful advisers.

But the consequences of Obama’s false advertisements are worse than those of private institutions such as JPM. In an economy that’s awash in misinformation – which is basically any economy – we can at least protect our interests against those of other private entities. We can walk away from claims that don’t pass the sniff test. If we learn we’ve been fooled, we can take our business elsewhere. Finally, we can turn to the courts for compensation.

None of these options are realistic, though, when the transgressor happens to hold the title, President of the United States. Under our new, more socialistic approach to health care, our only choice is to play by Obama’s rules. We also have to accept that information about those rules is tightly controlled by his team. Which means it’s crafted to protect his popularity and legacy above other considerations including the truth.

Just as Taranto didn’t go so far as to use the “L” word in his column yesterday, neither did any of the other mainstream media reports we reviewed. There were plenty of carefully worded euphemisms, but presumably it’s not polite to say the president told a lie.

We’ll show no such restraint: Obama told a blatant lie, which he then continued to repeat. It’s not the first time he’s lied, but this was an absolute whopper.

And while Taranto was right to compare his deceit to corporate fraud, we’ll add that we have no recourse against the president’s lies, unlike in the private sector. Therefore, Obama’s actions are more demoralizing and destructive than those of corporate fraudsters.

Nearly every business over 50 employees will be
effectively forced to reduce, not increase, nor keep the same base level of benefits
in order to afford the new premiums. Nearly everyone is going to see
higher deductibles, higher co-insurance, and fewer covered procedures.

It is simple math.

The haves get less and pay more so more of the have nots can have a little more.

Net-net, the insurance companies are the big winners for three reasons.

The Unions provide both cash and organizational support to Organizing for Obama. They are continuing to accept the Progressive march towards more federal power as long as exemptions are made on their behalf.

Sure, plenty of people knew obama was full of it when he said this...but for anyone who claimed he was full of it, they were met with a swift accusation of being a "racist" who "hated the president and would make wild, baseless claims only to try to hurt his historic presidency"

feudalists might be better applied here.... it is clear his handlers or manipulators (not all are hands on) are helping remove wealth from this country and reestablishing the old crown heads (so to speak) in europe... the only reason obama has not been assassinate is because he is going a long... lincoln and kennedy did the opposite and look what happened

The lie is actually a strategy and it works because the context of the lie is lost with time.

At the time that the lie, "if you like it, you can keep it", was being told, the country was evenly divided or slanted against Obamacare. In order to neutralize the opposition, the lie was born because at least 1/3 of the population figured, well this law doesn't affect me. The result was a razor thin passage of the law.

The strategy continues as only the private insurance was affected this year. So we get the mantra of how only a few people have actually lost plans and that the new plans are so much better.

Next year the real challenge begins because the majority of the people that thought "if you like it, you can keep it" was true will be affected and it will occur right before the elections. However, I expect the pols to somehow delay it another year or cause some type of chaos that will push the open enrollment from October to late November or December.

Are you sure....I say this because I am absolutely positive I did not vote for him, so if 51% of the population voted for him, then it must've been you....that or Diebold REALLY did have an impact in the election.

For a small increase in the premium, the insurance companies could fix these individual policies. But the healthcare insurance companies would rather cancel the policies and force the people into much higher payments. Why? Because they can. And they get more money that way.

President Obama said the only thing he could say: The ACA does not force people to change health insurance policies or doctors. That is a true statement. It is the health insurance companies and doctors that are forcing this. President Obama was not / is not speaking for them, because he. He was / is speaking for the ACA

The truth of my statement can be seen in the legislation that is being considered in Congress that would force the health insurance companies to stop doing this. Whether it passes or not is not the point. The point is that Congress actually knows where the problem lies (the health insurance companies, not the ACA), in spite of the political rhetoric being thrown about.

I agree with others that he could have been more clear that he was speaking only about the ACA, and more emphatic that he did not have any control over how the health insurance companies and doctors would respond to that legislation. But I think a reasonable man would assume that he was only speaking about that which he could control - the ACA. It does not contain language that requires people to change insurances or doctors.

This is not about Obama. And I personally think the ACA is a horrid piece of legislation on many levels but this is not about that either. It is about two questions:

- Does the ACA require the insurance companies to cancel policies and doctors to drop patients?

- Why is the Congress preparing to consider legslation to stop the health insurance companies from cancelling policies if the problem does not lie with the insurance companies?

Note this completed sentence from my previous post. Could not fix it there because the comment underneath it locked me out: President Obama was not / is not speaking for them (health insurance companies), because he could not in any way know how they would respond, nor does he have any control over how they respond.

WHEN AND WHERE DOES THE CIVIL UNREST BEGIN? I missed out on Woodstock 'cause I woke up drunk & hungover with some rinsed out, "chew my arm offugly", one-night-stand bar butterfly. Missed my ride into infamy. I DON'T want to be left behind on this RESET!

If you think back to the time he was first elected, if you didn't vote for him you were a racist. Nevermind that he was an obscure politician for only a short time before running for president. You had to chuck reason overboard and vote for him or face racism angst. Hell, Obama's campaign even crucified Bill Clinton for being a racist because he was voting for not the black guy. I'm not excusing anyone who voted for him, but the context at the time was important. Hopefully the country has grown up past that. Wishful thinking, I know.

We "deserved" being lied to, and having been deceived? I don't bloody think so!

If you recall, after the Bush-Cheney 8-year fiasco, this guy actually sounded smart, decent and reasonable. By your rationale, those who voted for that Shrub-retard and Dick-scumbag also "deserved" what they got? I don't accept that either. All these guys are front-men and puppets of the same Masters who run the Shadow Gov.

'mericans never cease to be suckered. By bankers, politicians, revivalist charlatans, or a range of snake-oil salesmen. What do you expect when the majority happily join the brainwashing programs of their young, with myths like the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, when they still believe in Angels as adults, and send young men to bleed and die, so that old men can enjoy the 'good life'? People need to grow the fuck up. They need to stop believing in non-existent and invisible entities, and deal with the real world and the real universe.

Fuck "USA, USA, USA"! And fuck "For God & Country"! Neither gives a shit about you or anyone you know -- no matter how much you may grovel or 'serve', no matter how much you may bleed or 'love' them. But most ppl/sheeple can't handle the real world, so they'd rather trade in their thoughts, freedoms and work for their small part in the national Theater of the Absurd.

I was in the coffee shop the other day when I heard the owner say to someone "but I thought we were supposed to be able to keep our plans." Looked over and he was arguing with some 50 year old fuckers sitting at the table. The one guy (pseudo-intellectual) says "well, that was an unfortunate choice of wording" and then goes on to explain that the coffee shop owner can "get subsidies" if his rates are too expensive. Ever notice how these shit for brains always trot out that same line any time somebody opposes Obamacare? Like I'm totally dead set against it, but not for ideological reasons, only cause I personally am not getting enough free loot. What a fucking tool.

It was about that time the owner walked off, presumably in disgust at the idea of robbing Peter to pay Paul. I said loudly "subsidies are theft!" The guy turned around and started saying "that is a mischaracterization" which I rebutted with "no, it's the truth" a few times. The guy starts saying "well that's what they said about social security, medicare, etc" which I informed him are likewise failures and travesties. I told them they were assholes for being so stupid as to load my generation up and beyond with massive debt to pay for their idiotic entitlement programs.

It ended up devolving into a heated shouting match which ended by my stating that this argument would only be resolved by a shooting war aka 3rd American Revolution, and that these people were surrounded by propaganda yet were too stupid to see it. At this point I realized we were causing a scene so packed up my shit and left out of respect for the owner, who wished me a good day as I walked out.

I can't wait for the day comes that these pieces of shit are cut off from their medicare and social security and other slave programs they're so fucking stupid to have become dependent on. Don't come to MY door asking for food, dirtbags. Can't wait for the rotting, starved bodies to pile up in the streets. Mother Nature needs to flush these turds.

Ouch! Uncalled for. I'm very selective as to what I watch on TV, and I can't/don't speak for Trekkers. Aside from James or Kirk perhaps being my real name, I simply use it as a metaphor/vehicle for looking at problems from a different angle than that which is force-fed to the masses, and happily consumed by them. I seek the Truth (on ZH mostly), and will boldly go (with my questions) where few dare to go. Surely you can relate?

Freddie, you do realize that you're using a Hollywood icon (Check Norris) also? The irony does not escape me. Now where would your hero and his lifestyle be w/o Sleazywood*? Probably teaching at a local gym. As Bruce Lee's assistant. ;-)

* Will agree with you 100% on the sleaziness and trash that has become H'wood. Saw a program about its secret life last week. The kind of decadence their elite indulges in (at private clubs), is beyond belief. As the commentator said: "If demons wanted go loose on that town, they'd discover that there's little they could do that hasn't been done already." All we get is now is a steady diet of: demons, ghosts, spirits, witches, zombies, psychos, killers, sci-fi and monsters. When we're not pretending to be arm-chair quarterbacks, coaches and sportsmen, or wannabe stars, or watching "sitcoms" that berate men (especially white boys and men) as being stupid, as unperceptive and insecure wienies, clowns, jerks, bullies or buffoons. It's "Open Season" for this demographic 24/7/365.

This leaves a 'normal' person or responsible parent with only a few channels and programs of redeeming educational and social value (e.g., History, Nature, Nat-Geo, PBS or Science channels. And DIY programs like This Old House, some cooking and gardening shows, and 60 minutes, PBS Frontline, PBS Nova, Mythbusters, or Ancient Aliens. Or reruns of Bugs Bunny & Friends, Bonanza, Little House on The Prairie, The Waltons, MASH, Happy Days, or Cheers. SNL has so much crap and filler in it, that it can easily be redacted and compressed into a few hours. IMHO.

Well, the sheep seem to be very accepting of this new lie, as with those before it (Benghazi), whopper though it may be. By which I mean, I see no crowd storming the White House to drag Obama out for a "street level meeting." I hear no further calls to repeal it; indeed, I hear inceasing calls to "reform" it which merely means the concept has been fully accepted, it's now just down to tweakig the details.

This lie would only matter if it came out before the 2012 electons. Not now. It's too late now.

It's a little early. Watergate didn't get going for quite sometime. This is such a big and impactful lie on everyday life it's going to be hard especially for his followers to even get their heads around it I think.

The more damaging lie that hasn't been realized yet, because of the inept job of IT procurement/project management.

That lie is: your policies were cancelled because they are replaced with better plans. Your cancelled policies were "bad apples".

Obamacare policies are an absolute joke.

The only "affordable" bronze plans have very limited access to Doctors and hospitals. The deductibles will bankrupt most people without 6k -10k hanging around. Out-of-network procedures, will flat out rob you.

That is the bigger lie. My "bad apple" policy has been replaced with SHIT balls served on a bed of impeachable lies.

+1. You probably know that the Secret Service (SS) actually works for the FED, but most ppl don't.

Originally, their core mission was to track down $$$ counter-fitters. They also became the personal bodyguards/Centurions of the POTUS later on. Not only do the "bad" guys no longer get access to the President, neither to ANY "good" guys. He's totally trapped in their Bubble, and his "speeches" have been reduced to "Telepromt Twerks". --> 100% Puppet of the Shadow_Gov.

Funny, but all they have to do is pull back on their coverage and -- boom! -- the Big Guys gets it (from a range of ex-Snipers or Useful Tools, who don't last long either). Per your Exhibits 1,2,3 above.

The linguistic acrobatics one has to do to defend O's promise as being truthful is laughable to the point of being surreal. His supporters would rather come out and admit the truth that they believe that the government can make make better decisions for individuals than they can for themselves than admit this man lied.

The linguistic acrobatics one has to do to defend O's promise as being truthful is laughable to the point of being surreal.

To prove that O's promises are actual lies, you would have to prove that the ACA contains language that requires the health insurance companies to cancel the private insurance plans. Good luck with that one.

Under our new, more socialistic approach to health care, our only choice is to play by Obama’s rules

The ACA is *not* a socialistic health care system - only one system exists in the world that actually reflects actual socialism, and that is single payer health care.

The ACA is actually a construct to further *privatize* health care in America. The only thing "centrally planned" in this "socialist" style are the premiums, which will go up at a lower YOD clip.....but they will still be GOING UP and will still be paid by those who use the healthcare....not by a massive amount of taxes collected from the wealthy to pay for it.

If you have to pay an insurer a premium to get healthcare, if you have to pay the hospital out of *your* own pocket - that's not a socialist health care system. That is a privatized exchange.

These aren't Obama's rules; the motherfucker didn't write the bill. All he is paid to do is schill for it. The insurers and big pharma, wrote the fucking bill. It's *their* rules we play under (which the government enforces).

Just because the government enforces privatized healthcare, doesn't mean it is a socialist construct.

The only redistribution of wealth here is from the bottom (the masses who use healthcare) to the top (doctors/hositpals/lobbyists/insurance companies). A socialist health care system, does the opposite.

People in Canada, Denmark, Norway, etc. do not complain about the costs in their single payer systems because they are SINGLE PAYER. The government eats the costs. Granted, there are cons of a single payer system (wait times, innovation due to controlled profits, quality of care, even favoritism), but COST to the INDIVIDUAL (and access) is NOT one of them.

The subsidies (Medicare, ppl under 26) given to those in the bill are just crumbs compared to the MASSIVE amounts of money Wall Street and the Health Insurers will make off of this bill.

Look at the fucking stock of United Health Care during the last 5 years (one of Obama's biggest donors). Do you think if the health care system actually reflected socialist health care, that these assholes would be making money hand over fist?

If you are going to claim something is socialist, at least have an idea of what the fuck socialism is, before doing so. k, thx

The first step was to con the insurers and when this system is shown to not function the insurance companies will be blamed and a single payer system will be pushed into even your view. For the sake of us all open your eyes and listen to Obama's own words on single payer.

Anything Obama said on supporting single payer was just to appease the dumb liberal masses. He has no real qualms on actually trying to do so. And neither does his party.

Pipe dreams and wolf tickets, which the Democratic party has always sold.

It's like when he tells Michelle she doesn't look fat in her dress before they go out; she obviously does, but just says so he won't hurt her feelings.

If the man was honest, he wouldn't be in fucking office, guys.

It's a big level that sucks people into this "red v blue" debate that covers up the enraging corportism that both parties espouse to.

Word up dawg.....all this is a con job for single payer.

There will NEVER be single payer in the United States. Not only will the insurers and pharma and the hospitals never allow it, the country is simply too big for a bureaucratic system like it. Also, the country isn't based on this morality where everyone feels that people are "entitled" to get health care (despite going to church every Sunday and espousing about a guy in Jesus, who preached this exact thing. #lolreligion).

If you get health care, you are lucky to do so, and that's what the real owners of this country want.

No one gives a shit if you get care or not. When you get sick, you basically become a hostage to this current system, and what those who take of you want, is fiat. Mounds and mounds of fiat.

Well, strictly speaking, you are right, but you are failing to comprehend the purpose of 'socialism' in the first place.

It is a construct which takes away the individual's RIGHT TO CHOOSE, and makes the government 'collective' more important. The works of the 'masters' are a great step in the understanding of its' true purpose.

I don't WANT 'insurance' in the first place.

WELL (you say), why should I have to pay for YOU because YOU don't want to give monies to a conglomerate that lines their individual pockets with the wealth of the ages, by talking people in to BEING SCARED of 'getting sick', and charts it all out with actuarial tables like the rigging of the slot machines in Las Vegas?

No, you are correct in stating that this is not 'strictly' 'socialism' in it's theoretical end form (which ultimately is a totalitarian ownership of ALL ASSETS, INCLUDING 'HUMAN RESOURCES'). It is a couple of steps MORE ADVANCED than that.

It all boils down to Americans' delusional expectation that they'll be able to live forever, fuck into their 90s, and look 18 while doing it.

As for the ACA, fascist is the most correct appellate for this monstrosity; a conglomeration of state and monopoly market powers to force the policy on the populace that is beneficial only to the former, dressed up as nationalistic nonsense ("healthcare is a human right!") to foil the sheeple into compliance. Not a drop of socialism to be found.

Just because corporations are the ones abusing the governments monopoly power does not make it the private sector behind this. The private sector is where consumers call the shots not a. Unholy alliance between government and giant corporations designed to protect those corporations.

Washington, Congress, Wall Street, K Street, our judicial systems, and the MSM have become 21st century representations of the Mongol hordes - raping, pillaging, and robbing while convincing most Americans that they exist to serve them. At least in the 13th century, people certainly recognized the threat and fought back as best they could....

Regarding a plague... BANKERS are like a plague accross the land. BANKSTERS are the plague. Washington, Congress, Wall Street, K Street, our judicial systems, and the MSM are the ones spreading the the plauge.

Most of them are too stupid to know that they have caught the plague and need to go to the Natural/Individual Rights doctor to get cured. Probably because they think things come not from respecting Natural/Individual Rights, but from collectivist "Representative Democracy".

Dear Healthcare Plan Member -- We are happy to inform you that your Gold-Plated Plan no longer meets Govt-Mandated standards. It is hereby terminated. You can replace it with a much better Triple-Platinum Family Plan. Your income level exceeds the Govt-Mandated minimum/maximum eligibility requirements, therefore your new plan will be $500,000 per month with $3,000,000 lifetime deductable -- your previous doctor no longer accepts our plan, so we have taken the liberty of choosing a new family doctor for you and your loved ones. Welcome to the plan. P.S. This is mandatory, enforceble by IRS garnishment.

I would imagine that, except for those with pre-existing conditions, the high deductibles of $10-12K on top of $1000/month payments for what is left of the upper middle class would indicate that many will opt out and pay the fine which, after all, is enforced (for now anyway) through a claim on any tax refunds. I also don't see minimum wage young adults or college grads with any appreciable student loan debt signing up either. The quotas necessary to support this control freak's wet dream will not be there.

While this asshole is in power those around him can and enthusiastically do intimidate and cajole dissenters, but once he is out of office I predict that the attacks (that are already being planned) on his legacy of deceitful, criminal behavior will commence. His legacy? Shame and disgrace. Once its writers are free from retaliation, history will write that this was the most disastrous president America has ever seen. And we will watch this story unfold for years to come as the reverberations of eight years of Obama shudder through this country and the world. It isn't too much to place Obama alongside the tyrants of history - Caligula, Stalin, Hitler - the only difference is that they slaughtered millions the old-fashioned way, by spilling blood, while this perversion of a human being has invented a new way to slaughter millions, by polluting and destroying the lifeblood of an entire country.

There are some that would push for a spot at Mt Rushmore for Obama. I could perversely support that if they put a stupidly leering Bush, an evil, glaring LBJ and a scowling Nixon flanking Obama's vile, smirking countenance. A real murderers' row.

Really. What's your point Tyler? this is the way the world works today. Tell a lie so big no one will believe it could be a lie and you'll get away with it. If you're black, you just call your accusers racists and move on.

Not all politicians are absolute whores and liars. The ones who aren't are easy to spot...they're the ones that Team Red and Team Blue can both agree are someone nobody should listen to. Ron Paul comes to mind. there are others who are less famous. One is running in my state for congress on the Libertarian ticket. I'm going to vote for him.